Forbidden Voices: Censored in America

Almost everything worth reading has at some point been censored by someone who deemed it dangerous.

But what makes an idea dangerous?  What gives someone the power to determine what you should hear, see, read, or say—or what you can’t hear, see, read, or say?  In a nation founded on principles of equality, freedom, and tolerance, why should anyone have the power to control what you can think?  And what can you do about it?

This class is centered on some of the most famous examples of American censorship and includes content that is sure to offend everyone.  We will celebrate the right to read by hearing authors speak their truths in their own words as we attempt to understand the debate over censorship, democracy, and the First Amendment.  Students should be prepared to encounter content that they may find blasphemous, offensive, obscene, or otherwise problematic.

I will curate the selections for the first part of the course with banned classics by Rudolfo Anaya, Charles Darwin, Frederick Douglass, George Orwell, John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, and Walt Whitman.  For the second part of the course, students will build on the principles we have explored in class to set their own curriculum for the last few weeks of the semester.  For example, we may choose to discuss cinematic censorship, Supreme Court cases, news items about censorship, propaganda, and disinformation, as well as works by Sherman Alexie, Margaret Atwood, Alison Bechdel, Ray Bradbury, Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Allen Ginsberg, Toni Morrison, George Orwell, Salman Rushdie, Angie Thomas, Kurt Vonnegut, or others proposed by students depending on what you want to know more about.

Consistent attendance and active participation are expected.  Students will keep a reading journal, which will form the basis for a series of short response papers.  There will be one shorter research paper and a creative final project.  Depending on enrollment, each student may be expected either to lead class discussion for a day or to offer a series of three-minute “leads” to help the class draw a link between the themes of each reading and the historical context in which the work was censored.

Thanks to all who made this seminar such a success in Spring 2025!! I’m leaving this page active for students interested in taking it in the future. Dates and assignments will vary next time, but you can get a sense of what the general expectations will be.

THE MOST UP TO DATE TIMELINE

Monday, January 20: NO CLASS: Martin Luther King Day

Wednesday, January 22: Introduction (HOMEWORK TO DO TODAY: download my MLA template linked here in Microsoft Word installed locally to your computer, which you can get by logging into your UNM Outlook webmail page and following these instructions. Find the matrix of nine dots in the upper left corner of your webmail screen (technically known as the “waffle iron”), which pulls up a list of a bunch of the webapps that UNM licenses from Microsoft. Those aren’t the versions of the apps you need, but that waffle iron is the key to installing the actual software to your computer. At the top of that popup menu (to the right of the waffle iron and well above the list of apps) there’s a link with an arrow that says “Office” which takes you to office.com logged in as a UNM user.  At the right top of that page is a big button that says “Install Office.”  Click that button and follow the instructions, and you should be able to install a copy to your computer.)

Monday, January 27: Read the syllabus and come to class with any questions you have about it. Find 4-5 recent news items on censorship in America and bring them to class.  Be ready to summarize the who, what, when, where, how, and why of each article as best you can. At your earliest convenience (aiming for sometime before class on Wednesday), email me the links to one ore more of the articles and your summaries so I can put them on the website.

Wednesday, January 29: The late medieval morality play Mankind (in coursepack)

Monday, February 3: Floyd Abrams, The Soul of the First Amendment

Wednesday, February 5: George Lakoff, “Metaphor, Morality, and Politics”

Monday, February 10: Synthesis of key concepts to date before we get into the literature; please read my my Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar (also printed in your coursepack) to get a sense of my approach to writing

Wednesday, February 12: Library instruction with Honors Librarian Adrienne Warner to help you prepare for your Shorter Research Paper. We will meet in B30, the basement library classroom in Zimmerman. This room is no longer a traditional computer lab, so students need to bring their own laptops or check out a loaner from the Zimmerman main floor checkout desk.

Monday, February 17: Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life (read for themes of coercion, violence, censorship)

Wednesday, February 19: Frederick Douglass, “A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston” (in coursepack); Narrative of the Life (continued)

Monday, February 24: Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Wednesday, February 26: Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (continued)

Monday, March 3: Surprise! THE SHORTER RESEARCH PAPER IS OFFICIALLY DUE TODAY–BUT YOU WILL TURN IT IN NEXT WEEK, ON 3/10/25! You should use this next week to make the most of my Revision Triage Checklist and bring out the best in your ideas, citations, and writing! I am sorry I couldn’t tell you about this sooner, but you can only revise a draft you’ve finished writing. Be prepared to talk about your research and share your findings informally with the group.

Wednesday, March 5: Be prepared to talk about your research and share your findings informally with the group.

Monday, March 10: Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Wednesday, March 12: Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (continued)

Monday, March 17: NO CLASS: Spring Break

Wednesday, March 19: NO CLASS: Spring Break

Monday, March 24: Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (Introduction and Chapters 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, and 14, then skim around and read anything else that interests you); AT LEAST THREE TWO OF YOUR SIX FIVE RESPONSE PAPERS ARE DUE BEFORE AFTER SPRING BREAK (i.e., today!)

Wednesday, March 26: H. L. Mencken’s reporting on the Scopes “Monkey Trial” (in coursepack)

Monday, March 31: CLASS CANCELED DUE TO LACK OF A CRITICAL MASS John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Wednesday, April 2: John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (continued)

Monday, April 7: John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (continued)

Wednesday, April 9: John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (continued); PLEASE REREAD THE LAKOFF ESSAY BEFORE CLASS TODAY

Monday, April 14: Guest visitor (no new reading)

Wednesday, April 16: The Three Peoples murals by Kenneth Adams in Zimmerman Library (please read around in the LibGuide beforehand). We’ll meet in the lobby of Zimmerman, view the murals as a group, and then return to our usual classroom.

Monday, April 21: Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima, “Take the Tortillas out of Your Poetry,” “The Censorship of Neglect,” “The Courage of Expression,” and “Stand Up against Censorship Anywhere it Occurs” (essays in coursepack)

Wednesday, April 23: Rudolfo Anaya novel and essays (continued)

Monday, April 28: Bless Me, Ultima + Anaya essays (continued) AND An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

Wednesday, April 30: An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (continued)

Monday, May 5: Summing up class themes + POSSIBLE DISCUSSION OF George Orwell, “The Prevention of Literature” (in coursepack); “Politics and the English Language” and “Why I Write” (in book) and any other essays of his we decide to discuss, such as “Such, Such Were the Joys,” “Shooting an Elephant,” “Looking Back on the Spanish War”???

Wednesday, May 7: Class summary. Final project is due today. The remaining response papers are now optional (I’m glad to read them but they aren’t required). Congratulations! You made it!!

CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST OF NEWS ARTICLES ON CENSORSHIP SUBMITTED BY THE CLASS

IMPORTANT COURSE DOCUMENTS

  • Syllabus for Forbidden Voices: Censored in America, Spring 2025.  This is the same document I circulated by email and discussed the first day of class.  Most of the information is reproduced below on this website.  The timeline, above, will always be up-to-date.
  • Sample MLA Document (template) for you to download and use as the basis for all your written work in this class. I last updated this on 3/3/23 and consider it a work in progress. If you use this document, your margins, typeface, line spacing, etc. are likely to be correct.  It is crucial that you follow the conventions of style and formatting, and this document will put you in a strong position to make sure your paper is 12pt Times New Roman, double spaced, 24 lines per page, with margins that print at 1″.  You should not change the settings unless you know what you are doing and have good reason to do so.  You can get a copy of Microsoft Word through your UNM Webmail (Google Documents, Apple Pages, etc. will not produce a proper MLA-formatted document).
  • Dr. Obenauf’s Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar.  I consider this essential to your success in this course.  This is the same version as in your coursepack.  I will likely refer you to specific sections of it in my comments on your papers.  Read it carefully and ask if you have any questions about the advice in it.
  • Dr. Obenauf’s famous Revision Triage Checklist, last updated 2/11/25, which you can download and use in your future classes.
  • Alternative assignment option for the term paper. The instructions for a creative final project are found below in this syllabus and in the hard copy you received at the start of the semester. Either topic is fine with me. This gives you another range of possibilities.

LINKS AND RECOMMENDING READING
(I WILL UPDATE THIS LIST FREQUENTLY THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER)

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS CLASS

What you get out of this class depends on what you put into it.

“Forbidden Voices” is different from other classes you have likely taken in that it is centered on primary historical literary sources.  In most cases, I will be interested in how you respond to the ideas and themes in our readings without regard for what anyone else has said about them.  I am looking for your most honest responses and interpretations based on the evidence you gather from our sources.  Without fear of saying the “wrong” thing, or pressure to say the “right” thing, you will gain confidence in summarizing texts in your own words and generating your own ideas about them based on evidence you cite.

To help you slow down and practice reading, thinking, and writing carefully, most weeks you will need to spend between five and ten hours outside of class preparing for our seminar sessions.  I hope you can use that time to “unplug” from many of your favorite distractions and, as much as possible, write in a paper journal, read from print editions of books, and revise your papers in longhand.  We won’t use Canvas in this class—you’ll use Microsoft Word to produce MLA-style documents, which you’ll print out and turn in as hard copies.  I’ll read your papers with a pencil in my hand and return them with notes you will then review and use as you work on your next paper.  When we’re in class together, we will rarely use the projector for videos or PowerPoint; rather, we’ll give each other our full attention by putting away our electronics and listening to what each person is really trying to convey through their words.

Rather than relying on summaries and other peoples’ interpretations—which may be inaccurate or may cloud your analysis of the course readings—you should read slowly and with a dictionary, taking notes and coming to class with questions you were unable to answer on your own.  If you don’t already own a decent dictionary, you should consider buying one.  A print dictionary will allow you to look up unfamiliar words without getting sucked into your phone.  It is normal to be a little confused at times.  That is part of the process.  There are no shortcuts.

Before each reading, I will give a brief lecture on the upcoming text.  You should take notes on this background information so that you can incorporate it into your response papers.  Your readers need context which you do not yet possess.  Rather than relying on outside sources that may color your reading of the materials, you should rely on the information I give in class.  If you must miss class, you should get notes from a classmate on the content that you missed.

You are expected to be the sole creator of all work you submit and of every idea you raise during class discussion.  You are strictly prohibited from using ChatGPT, Grammarly, and any other AI resources for any aspect of this course.  You will need to resist the temptation in order to master the skills that AI appears to approximate.  If you are ever in doubt about whether it is acceptable to use a particular resource for this class, you should ask your instructor.  Before you submit each assignment, ask yourself this question:  Did I do this work myself, yes or no?

YOUR GRADE

There are many ways to assess student learning.  In this class, the main form of assessment will be the feedback on your work.  The comments you get on your papers are for your benefit.  You should read my notes and ask questions so that you can follow up on each piece of advice as you work on each subsequent essay.

In addition to the handwritten and typed notes, I will assign letter grades to your formal writing (i.e., the Shorter Analytical Paper and your Final Project) and grade the response papers on a pass/fail basis.  These grades are a necessary evil:  the grade you earn on each assignment is far less important than the feedback you receive and the progress you make over the course of the semester.  You should not fixate on the grades.  Just keep doing your best and strive to do even better next time.

30% Participation, including leading discussion
70% Written work
            20% Informal response papers (pass/fail)
            20% Shorter Research Paper
            30% Creative Final Project

Your semester grade will follow the Honors College’s unique grading system according to these criteria:

  • A semester grade of A+, A, or A– will be recorded on your university transcript as an A.  An “A” signifies exemplary work that fully meets Honors expectations and will compute into your academic GPA.
  • A semester grade of B+ through C+ will be recorded on your university transcript as “CR.”  A grade of Credit in this course signals that you participated meaningfully in class discussion and that you made an earnest attempt to meet the basic norms of scholarly writing even if your work did not consistently meet Honors-level expectations for writing and rigor.  You will receive credit towards graduation for your satisfactory work in this class, but your grade will not factor into your academic GPA.
  • A semester grade of C or below will be recorded on your university transcript as “NC.”  A grade of No Credit signals a failure to meet basic conventions of scholarly work, such as respect for deadlines, formatting, grammar, accuracy in citations and bibliographies, and/or significant problems in attendance and participation.  Even if your points add up to a passing grade, it is not possible to pass this course if your final project is incoherent or lacks appropriate citations or an accurate bibliography.  Thus, a grade of NC indicates unacceptable work and is not computed into your GPA or counted towards graduation.

I believe that every student enrolled in this seminar is capable of earning an A for the semester in “Forbidden Voices.”  Since I do not grade on a curve, nothing would delight me more than to turn in all As in May.

CLASS PARTICIPATION

Attendance:  We all benefit from hearing your perspectives in class discussion.  I will lower your participation grade for each unexcused absence.  After four unexcused absences, therefore, you will no longer be able to earn a passing grade in the class.  Your consistent attendance and contribution to class discussion are crucial to the success of this small seminar.  And although I expect you to be ready to begin on time, it’s better to be late than not to come at all.  Consistent tardiness will affect your participation grade in proportion to the consistency of your disruption.  Please keep in touch with me if you must miss class.  If you are experiencing physical or academic barriers, or concerns related to mental health, physical health and/or COVID-19, please consult with me after class, via email, or during office hours.  I want to help you succeed in this class, and I will do everything within my power to shepherd you through to May.  We will work together on a case-by-case basis as issues arise.

Book policy:  Bring the book we’re reading to every class session.  We will need to cite evidence for every claim we make.  To practice quoting the text extensively during class discussion in preparation for your papers, we will all (literally) need to be on the same page.  I have prepared a photocopied coursepack of shorter readings and ordered the most inexpensive editions I could find of longer books to make sure that you can afford the materials for this class, and you are expected to use these physical printed materials, in the exact editions I have requested.  Our classroom is both a NO-B.S. ZONE and a safe space to try out new ideas; the best ideas are anchored in concrete evidence; without your book, you cannot cite evidence for your claims, and therefore you cannot participate meaningfully in discussion.  Since you may be dismissed from class and marked “absent” for the day if you do not have your book with you, if you realize you’ve forgotten your book, you should tell your instructor immediately and ask permission to share with a classmate or to use an electronic version for that day only.

Electronics use:  The emphasis in a seminar is on conversation.  Even before class begins, Honors wishes to cultivate a sense of community through chitchat amongst your peers.  In order to be fully engaged in our discussions, you should put away your electronic devices when you are in class so that you can devote your total attention to what your classmates are saying and to what you can contribute.  I again ask that you use PRINT editions of the texts we will be discussing so that you can leave your phones, computers, tablets, e-readers, and other distractions in your bags.  Pen and paper should do fine for your note taking in Honors.  If you must use electronics during class, you will need to resist the temptation to check social media or work on other projects.

Participation and preparation:  Honors seminars are neither lectures nor bull sessions; active attendance is a part of participation, and so your presence alone does not guarantee participation points.  You are encouraged to contribute when you have something thoughtful to say…which means coming to class thoroughly prepared to discuss the day’s readings with an open mind.  The best way to prepare is to read the course materials attentively, looking up unfamiliar words and concepts, and generally considering the major issues of the works before we begin our discussions.

Leading class discussion:  Depending on course enrollment, you will be expected to lead class discussion in one of two ways.  If enrollment drops to approximately one dozen students in the course, you will be charged with leading class discussion for at least 30 minutes (and likely the entire class session after my opening remarks) at some point during the semester.  You should email me several days ahead of time with your tentative questions and plan of attack so that I can offer additional questions and offer some hints for the text you will be teaching.

Leads:  In order to minimize duplication, if enrollment is near capacity, you will instead be assigned to prepare a series of BRIEF (three-minute) “leads” on a rotating basis to stimulate our discussion throughout the semester.  I will post these on the website and announce them in class ahead of time.  You should begin with a CONCISE (no more than one minute, and ideally just two or three sentences) original summary of your assigned section to jog your classmate’s memory of the section.  I am specifically requesting that you not bog down class time with lengthy summaries.  We have all done the reading.  We do not need a page-by-page account of what we have already read.  Being able to write a brief summary without relying on ChatGPT, Wikipedia, or any other source is an important skill for you to develop.  This will be good practice for you, and it will help the class stay focused on your section.  Then, help the class draw a link between the themes of your section and the historical context in which the work was censored.  This may require you to read up on when, how, where, and why the work was censored.  Beyond that, your job is to tie the passage you’ve been assigned to the themes of the course, such as by making a connection to Abrams, Lakoff, or other course readings.  While you might mention other relevant material from elsewhere in the text, you should try to limit your comments to your passage so as to avoid overlapping with other students who are taking the lead on other parts of the book.  You must have some sort of argument for your lead:  you can’t just say that you found something “interesting”—though you could certainly use that as a springboard.  You must explain why it seems surprising at first, and what your observation suggests about our course themes.  You are obviously free to agree or disagree with our texts.

Reading journal:  In addition to your normal class notes, you will need a separate notebook—a reading journal—to use for reflection throughout the semester.  For each reading, I will announce some reflection questions for you to consider in your private reading journal.  I recommend tackling the questions before attacking the reading so that you can see how your ideas compare with those of the text.  This will take approximately one to two hours per text and it is a significant part of this course.  You will draw on your personal responses in your short reflection papers, and your observations about the readings will help you prepare for class discussion.  This reading journal is strictly confidential—you will never, ever be required to share its contents with me or with any of your classmates.  You are expected to keep up with it.

Following up by email:  Although Honors expects all students to contribute to our daily seminar discussion, you may not be able to express every idea that you would like to explore in our limited time.  I encourage you to email me with your observations, questions, or even links to relevant articles.  Past students have found it helpful to articulate an idea by explaining it in an email to me, and this is one way for introverted students to show that they are truly engaged in the course.

WRITTEN WORK

I take it as a given that you will use the MLA template I have provided on the course website so that you can focus your energy on your writing and argumentation and I can focus my energy on responding to your writing and argumentation.  I have also provided a Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar in the coursepack for this class to help you produce the sort of writing we are looking for in Honors, regardless of what writing classes you may (or may not) have had in high school or college.

For this class you will need to install Microsoft Word to your computer (and NOT just use the online version, or Google Docs, or Pages, etc.).  You can get it for free as a UNM student through your webmail page.  Look for the matrix of nine dots in the upper left corner (technically known as the “waffle iron”), and click it to reveal a list of various webapps.  You don’t want those webapps, but above that list is a link with an arrow that says “Office.”  Click that and you’ll go to office.com but logged in with your UNM credentials.  At the top right of that page there’s a big button that says “Install Office.”  Click the button and follow the instructions.  Once you have Word on your computer, you’ll be ready to download my MLA template from the course website that will enable you to produce properly formatted MLA documents.

Since you will not be permitted to rewrite any of your papers in this class, I urge you to do a good job the first time and request guidance and extensions if necessary.  That said, you have the tools to get full credit for all of your work.  I would much rather spend my time commenting on your ideas and argumentation than on your formatting and grammar.  You don’t need me to tell you things you already know—if you rush through your drafts and skip the revision process, my feedback will be less helpful to you than if I am able to respond to your strongest effort.  To help nudge you towards using the course materials sooner rather than later, this semester there will be a penalty of one letter grade for each significant formatting or proofreading issue.  I look forward to seeing what you come up with! To reiterate, I have provided you with a thorough guide to writing and reasoning like a scholar in your coursepack, which will help you teach yourself how to meet the expectations of the formal analytical writing in this class, including the analytical portions of your term paper.  You must proofread your work carefully before you turn it in.  There will be numerous other handouts and tools provided to you this semester to help you succeed in this class.  You should use these tools to hold yourself accountable and to help yourself develop writing and critical thinking skills that will serve you for the rest of your life.  Please ask for help if you are struggling to meet these expectations, as there is no extra credit in “Forbidden Voices.”

You are expected to follow the latest MLA style guide and to document your sources meticulously.  This is Honors!  For example, all work should be exactly double-spaced in a 12-pt. Times New Roman typeface, rendered with 1” margins, and therefore 24 lines of text per page; the page number and your name must appear in the upper right corner of each and every page.  Please print all documents single sided.  You must neatly staple or paperclip your pages together:  loose or crimped pages will not be accepted.  I will not grade any paper that fails to meet the minimum expectations for length, formatting, proofreading, or rigor of citations and bibliographies.  A template is available on this website.  For additional examples, consult your MLA Handbook and see http://style.mla.org.

As you write, you should consult references like The Elements of Style, a good dictionary, your MLA Handbook, and Dr. Obenauf’s Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar.  I expect your very best.  As a rule of thumb,

  • A papers open with an introduction that gives sufficient context without overwhelming the reader with irrelevant information and offer a concrete thesis statement at the end of the introduction.  The body of an A paper is meticulously organized and well polished, taking a serious tone as it persuasively guides the reader through rigorously cited evidence and careful original analysis.  Its conclusion takes the analysis a step further and considers the broader implications of the project’s analysis, avoiding recapping or simply summarizing what has already been said.  The bibliography is accurate.  In short, an A paper follows the conventions of style and formatting described in the MLA Handbook and in Dr. Obenauf’s Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar.
  • B papers make an earnest attempt at all of the traits of an A paper, but do not fully meet these expectations.
  • C papers struggle to meet these basic expectations but show a sincere attempt at intellectual honesty and rigor.
  • D papers make reasonable use of evidence but are too incoherent to build a persuasive argument.
  • F papers are intellectually dishonest or otherwise fail to meet the most basic expectations of college writing as described in Dr. Obenauf’s Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar.  Coherent papers may be returned with an F if they do not conform to the norms of formatting, if they do not present sufficient evidence to build a persuasive argument, or if they do not respond to the paper prompt as assigned.  Papers below the minimum length requirement cannot answer the assignment as described and so they will be returned with an F.

All work must be submitted by the beginning of class on the day it is due.  I am reasonable about extensions, but you must talk to me—or e-mail me—ahead of time if you think you will need an exception.  Otherwise, late work will be penalized one letter grade for each day it is late.

There are three kinds of papers you will submit in “Forbidden Voices”:

  • Your six short response papers are an exercise in being both deep and brief.

    They are meant to help you practice summarizing course content into your own words while making connections from the past to the present.  They will be no less than one full page but no more than two full pages of text, double spaced, plus an accurate Work (or Works) Cited page.  These short reflection essays are likely to expand on topics you first explored in your private reading journal, but there is no assigned topic:  they merely need to relate to the class themes or readings.  While these essays are likely to be personal and reflective in nature, you must argue them with concrete evidence.  Part of the challenge is to strike a balance of personal and analytical commentary, writing neither an entirely personal essay nor an entirely analytical paper.  A personal anecdote drawn from your life would make a suitable opening; you might then comment on how one or more of our recent readings deals with a similar issue; to conclude, return to your opening comments.  In discussing course materials, you should not consult any outside sources, summaries, or commentaries, or using AI tools such as ChatGPT.

    Although these essays should be personal and reflective in nature, you must argue them with concrete evidence.  Part of the challenge is to strike a balance of personal and analytical commentary, writing neither an entirely personal essay nor an entirely analytical paper.  A personal anecdote drawn from your life would make a suitable opening; you should then comment on how the reading deals with a similar issue, using rigorously-cited quotations from course readings or other materials you encounter; to conclude, you could return to your opening comments or even quote or paraphrase your initial response in your reading journal that provoked you to write on the particular topic.

    In order to avoid the pitfalls of arguing too broadly (such as by attempting to make sweeping suggestions about “society” or “human nature”), you should argue with concrete examples, which can include personal anecdotes and quotes from your journal.  Anecdotes from your own experience can make a useful point of comparison for understanding how other people in other times and places dealt with similar situations.  Current news events would also be good topics for these papers.  I will comment on these lightly and grade them on a pass/fail basis.  Essays that are incoherent or that have clearly not been proofread will not receive credit.  A pattern of especially good or especially sloppy work will affect your grade.
  • Your Shorter Research Paper will be an essay of at least five pages in which you trace the reception of a significant literary work that has been censored in America.  Assume your reader has no knowledge of any of the materials you discuss.  Before you research the history of the book and its initial reception, you should read it, summarize it in your own words, and describe the content that you expect would have been deemed objectionable and explain why you think so, using quotations from the source.  Then, find reviews from when the book was first published in at least three major publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, Time Magazine, The Atlantic, Newsweek, etc.  Using quotes from the reviews, lay out a case for how literary critics initially viewed the book.  Then, explain how their responses aligned or diverged from your reading of the book, noting whether they picked up on the same things you did when you read the book for the first time.  You should then find reporting from when the book was banned, in national newspapers if possible, as well as in the local news where it was banned, and describe what happened there and what justifications were given for the censorship.  What was the outcome?  Did the author respond?  Conclude your paper by assessing the legacy of the book and its censorship.
  • For your Creative Final Project (10-15 pages), you will write a short story about censorship in America and then analyze it.  I am not judging you for your politics or your creativity; the goal is for you to get into the minds of the people whose job it is (or who make it their job) to decide what others should read (or should not read).  Ideally, you will create a fictional character from a time and place of your choosing and write a short story about their experience with censorship in America, whether as a censor, as an author, as a reader, or in some other capacity.  The story may be realistic or allegorical, but it must be rooted in historical facts.  You have almost unlimited artistic license, so long as the plot and themes of your story center on questions like When is censorship justified?  When does it go too far?  and How can we balance our right to free speech with a need to protect others (if you believe such a need exists)?  This creative component of your paper will probably fill 6-8 pages, but I invite you to write more.  You will then write a 4-6-page (minimum) analytical narrative explaining how you made every decision about your story based on actual historical cases by quoting course readings, newspaper coverage of contemporaneous books that were censored, Supreme Court cases, etc.  You should have a thesis at the end of the introduction to this analytical portion of your project describing the motivations for censorship in the era in which your story takes place.  To help make sure the creative portion of your project is historically informed, this analytical section should be centered on rigorous documentation of every source that inspired any aspect of your story, quoting from the texts to explain not only how they led you to make decisions about censorship and freedom but also what those decisions suggest about society more broadly at the time.  You should cite at least two course readings and at least five other sources.  In this section you may wish to discuss what worked well, and what didn’t seem to work well, and why.  What did you learn about censorship in your period from this project?

A NOTE ON CITING SOURCES ACCURATELY

Through these assignments, you will get lots of practice citing your sources.  Your Works Cited page is perhaps the most important element of college writing because it shows your reader how to check the citations in your paper.  You should plan ahead to create the bibliographic entries based on the sources you cite, and then painstakingly double- and triple-check them for accuracy.  For reasons I explain in greater detail in my Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar in your coursepack, it is very important that your Works Cited pages be accurate.

Bibliographies allow your reader to confirm that what you have said is true; inaccurate entries cast doubt on the entirety of your argument, and so they are anything but busy-work.  You must devote as much attention to detail at the end of your project as at the beginning.  A meticulous bibliography is part of a gestalt of rigor and intellectual honesty expected in Honors that signals your devotion to truthfulness and openness in your work.

I have a zero-tolerance policy for inaccurate citations.  You are expected to quote your sources faithfully and to cite them rigorously.  Anything less is a form of academic dishonesty and could lead to dismissal from the class.  Working directly with primary sources is at the core of what this class is all about.  You are expected to choose appropriate evidence to drive each point you make, and you are equally expected to produce your own in-text citations and your own works cited entries based on the materials you have used.  Your sources should, as a rule, be the versions I have assigned for this course.

Inaccurate quotations or citations will be assumed to be produced by a citation generator or by AI and, as evidence of academic dishonesty, will force me to report your paper to the Dean of Students and to recommend that you be dropped from the class.  Your learning in this class depends on you producing the work with your name on it and not relying on anyone else to do it for you.  This is your only warning:  if you submit work with citations that do not match the actual sources you used in your paper, I will take swift action to notify the Dean of Students of your academic dishonesty.  Do not cheat by outsourcing the most fundamental part of college writing.

Any student who lists an edition other than the exact version cited in the paper at hand will not receive credit for the assignment, whether it is a short response paper, a shorter research paper, or a final project.  You will not be permitted to revise or resubmit your essay, and so a brazenly misleading bibliography can prevent you from earning an A for the semester, and it may well prevent you from passing the course.

Fortunately, accurate bibliographies are not difficult to produce.  You should resist the temptation to use an online citation generator, ChatGPT, or any other shortcut.  It is not worth the risk!  Instead, you should refer to your MLA Handbook and other reputable guides and produce the entries yourself.  If you have any doubts, you should ask your professor for guidance.

That said, honest mistakes are part of the learning process.  The zero-tolerance policy applies to citations that clearly do not correspond with the relevant information they purport to document.  The MLA Handbook is a required text for this class because it shows you how to make your own citations based on the materials in front of you.  (Tip:  what MLA calls “location” means the location within the sources, such as a range of page numbers within an anthology; “place of publication” refers to the city or country where the work was published and is not generally needed for editions produced in the last hundred years.)

Before you submit each assignment, ask yourself this question:  Did I do this work myself, yes or no?

WHAT SORT OF HELP IS OK?

You may seek help with all stages of the writing process, but you must be the sole author of all work you submit in this course.  Submitting material as your own work that has been generated on a website, in a publication, by an artificial intelligence algorithm, by another person, or by breaking the rules of an assignment constitutes academic dishonesty.  It is a student code of conduct violation that can lead to a disciplinary procedure.  It should go without saying that learning the course material depends on completing and submitting your own work.

Off-campus paper writing services, problem-checkers and services, websites, and AIs can produce incorrect or misleading results.  Indeed, consulting outside sources is likely to derail your thought process, as is the use of AI tools such as ChatGPT.

Instead, I urge you to enlist your friends and family to help you proofread your papers—and to read your own prose out loud.

You may wish to reach out to our Honors librarian over at Zimmerman Library, Adrienne Warner by email at adriennew@unm.edu or by scheduling an appointment through her faculty page.

Also, the Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS), located both on campus and at http://caps.unm.edu, offers resources to help you improve your writing, including one-on-one tutoring, walk-in writing labs, and on-line writing assistance.  You are encouraged to visit CAPS for help with all stages of the writing process.

Above all, if you are ever in doubt about whether it is acceptable to use a particular resource for this class, you should ask your instructor.

HOW WE WILL HANDLE PROVOCATIVE AND OFFENSIVE MATERIAL

This is a class about books that have been banned for containing material that some people have found offensive.  It is possible that you will be offended by content you encounter in this course.  I’d suggest that instances in which you disagree with a perspective can often lead to valuable insights, and so I encourage you to grapple with the seeming contradictions and internal inconsistencies within works and among various texts as a way to discover the forces that motivated people who held views different from your own.  Our aim is not to litigate the truth or morality of the texts on our syllabus; our goal is to understand these works on their own terms for what they suggest about how other people lived and what they thought.

The syllabus for this course is packed with works chosen for their literary, philosophical, political, historical, and aesthetic significance.  No historical artifact or document can capture the entire essence of the lived experience of a particular time or place; we will read these works for what they reveal about the broad expectations of their first audiences.  But rather than judging the past by our standards, our time is best spent uncovering what old books suggest by thinking as historians, literary scholars, and anthropologists.  For example, we will trace the classical, medieval, and early modern roots evolution of racism, sexism, xenophobia, and other kinds of bigotry that manifested as ridicule in literature and coercion in practice.

To that end, as a general rule we will not be censoring our works.  We acknowledge that when we analyze primary literary works within their historical contexts, the words and concepts belong to the author rather than to the scholar who is quoting part of a text that is germane to the topic at hand.  In your papers, you should reproduce quotations precisely, though you may paraphrase words and passages in your subsequent discussion to avoid using epithets in your own prose.  In our seminar sessions, at times your instructor may take the reins and read certain passages out loud so that no student is forced to read them in class, though, again, we recognize that the words and ideas belong to the author and not to the person reciting them.

Per Section 2220 of UNM’s Student Handbook, The Pathfinder, “As an institution that exists for the express purposes of education, research, and public service, the University is dependent upon the unfettered flow of ideas, not only in the classroom and the laboratory, but also in all University activities. As such, protecting freedom of expression is of central importance to the University. The exchange of diverse viewpoints may expose people to ideas some find offensive, even abhorrent. The way that ideas are expressed may cause discomfort to those who disagree with them. The appropriate response to such speech is speech expressing opposing ideas and continued dialogue, not curtailment of speech. The University also recognizes that the exercise of free expression must be balanced with the rights of others to learn, work, and conduct business. Speech activity that unduly interferes with the rights of others or the ability of the University to carry out its mission is not protected by the First Amendment and violates this policy.”

While I would never pressure any student to say something simply because it’s what you think I would want to hear—especially in a class focused on the freedom of thought and expression—I encourage you to speak up when you have something relevant to say.  Respectful debate and free inquiry are cornerstones of all Honors seminars, so long as our discourse is germane to the seminar and the topic at hand.  You do not have the right to derail class discussion. Nonetheless, at times this semester we may be discussing passages that could be disturbing, even traumatizing, to some students.  If you ever feel the need to step out during one of these discussions, either for a short time or for the rest of the class session, you may always do so without penalty.  You will, however, be responsible for any material you miss and should make arrangements to review notes with one or your classmates or to see me during office hours.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Once students successfully complete “Forbidden Voices” they will be able to:

  • Analyze, critically interpret, and evaluate primary works of literature that reflect the moral, social, philosophical, economic, racial, and religious issues in banned books in America, including works by Rudolfo Anaya, Charles Darwin, Frederick Douglass, Mark Twain, George Orwell, Walt Whitman; and others, all within their interdisciplinary cultural and historical contexts.
  • Construct persuasive arguments and increase writing proficiency through creative writing and analytical essays characterized by original and insightful theses, supported by logically integrated and sound subordinate ideas, appropriate and pertinent evidence, and good sentence structure, diction, grammar, punctuation, and spelling, all within the framework of a specified style guide.
  • Compare modes of thought and expression across a range of historical periods and/or structures (such as political, geographic, social, cultural, philosophical, and intellectual); for example, the justifications for censorship in the 19th century vs. the 20th or 21st centuries.
  • Demonstrate knowledge that integrates ideas and methods from different disciplines; for example, how to evaluate literary, philosophical, and historical works as manifestations of changing attitudes towards social changes.

MORE FINE PRINT

Assessment of Learning Outcomes:  The University and the Honors College assess student work in several ways to demonstrate that students are learning the things we say that you are learning.  Independently of my grade and comments to you on the final project, I may rate a random sampling of essays according to standardized rubrics or submit anonymous, random, or aggregate data on your class’s performance.  I may ask you to provide an additional copy of your project which may be reviewed and/or archived anonymously.  This assessment is not related to your grade except that I may penalize you for not submitting an electronic copy of your essay in a timely manner.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Responsible Learning and Academic Integrity:  Each student is expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity in academic and professional matters.  UNM reserves the right to take disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, against any student who is found guilty of academic dishonesty or otherwise fails to meet the standards.  Per UNM policy, any student judged to have engaged in academic dishonesty in course work may receive a reduced or failing grade for the work in question and/or for the course.  Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, dishonesty in quizzes, tests, or assignments; claiming credit for work not done or done by others, including the use of AI such as ChatGPT; hindering the academic work of other students; misrepresenting academic or professional qualifications within or without UNM; and nondisclosure or misrepresentation in filling out applications or other records. You are responsible for personally creating each step of every assignment you submit in this class.  Taking shortcuts, including consulting summaries of the readings, ChatGPT or other AI models at any stage of the writing or revision process, citation generators, etc. is a form of academic dishonesty which will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is a grave offense that will result in a grade of “F” for the assignment and that could lead to dismissal from the Honors College or expulsion from the university.  Any student who submits a paper with any component written by someone else—including by ChatGPT or other generative AI models—will receive a grade of “F” on the assignment and a grade of “NC” for the semester. The emphasis in our class on primary sources means that, with a few clearly defined exceptions, you should consult no resources outside of the books we are discussing in the editions I’ve specified in this syllabus.  Inaccurate quotations or citations will be assumed to be produced by a citation generator or by AI and, as evidence of academic dishonesty, will result in my swift recommendation to the Dean of Students that you be dropped from the class.  There will be no second chances.  You may lose your scholarship.  So, before you submit each assignment, ask yourself this question:  Did I do this work myself, in its entirety, yes or no? For additional information on plagiarism and other university policies, please consult UNM’s Student Handbook, The Pathfinder, at http://pathfinder.unm.edu/.

Accommodations:  UNM is committed to providing equitable access to learning opportunities for students with documented disabilities.  As your instructor, it is my objective to facilitate an inclusive classroom setting, in which students have full access and opportunity to participate.  To engage in a confidential conversation about the process for requesting reasonable accommodations for this class and/or program, please contact Accessibility Resource Center (https://arc.unm.edu/) at arcsrvs@unm.edu or by phone at 505-277-3506.

Credit Hour Statement:  This is a three credit-hour course.  Class meets for two 75-minute sessions of direct instruction for fifteen weeks during the Spring 2024 semester.  According to federal guidelines, students are expected to complete a minimum of six hours of out-of-class work (including homework, study, assignment, completion, and class preparation) each week.  Honors courses generally demand more than six hours per week outside of class.  You should budget at least ten hours a week for your reading and writing in this course.

Electronic Backups:  You are required to keep electronic backups of all work you produce for this class that you can immediately provide upon my request.

Land Acknowledgment: Founded in 1889, the University of New Mexico sits on the traditional homelands of the Pueblo of Sandia.  The original peoples of New Mexico Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache since time immemorial, have deep connections to the land and have made significant contributions to the broader community statewide.  We honor the land itself and those who remain stewards of this land throughout the generations and also acknowledge our committed relationship to Indigenous peoples.  We gratefully recognize our history.

Citizenship and/or Immigration Status: All students are welcome in this class regardless of citizenship, residency, or immigration status.  I will respect your privacy if you choose to disclose your status.  I support your right to an education free from fear of deportation.  I pledge that I will not disclose the immigration status of any student who shares this information with me unless required by a judicial warrant, and I will work with students who require immigration-related accommodations.  As for all students in the class, family emergency-related absences are normally excused with reasonable notice to the professor, as noted in the attendance guidelines above.  UNM as an institution has made a core commitment to the success of all our students, including members of our undocumented community.  The Administration’s welcome is found on the website:  http://undocumented.unm.edu/.

Connecting to Campus and Finding Support: Students who ask for help are successful students.  UNM has many resources and centers to help you thrive, including opportunities to get involved, mental health resources, academic support including tutoring, resource centers for people like you, free food at Lobo Food Pantry, and jobs on campus. Your advisor, staff at the resource centers and Dean of Students, and I can help you find the right opportunities for you.

Respectful Conduct Expectations: I am committed to building with you a positive classroom environment in which everyone can learn.  I reserve the right to intervene and enforce standards of respectful behavior when classroom conduct is inconsistent with University expectations.  Interventions and enforcement may include but are not limited to required meetings to discuss classroom expectations, written notification of expectations, and/or removal from a class meeting.  Removal from a class meeting will result in an unexcused absence. Five or more unexcused absences may result in permanent removal and a drop from the course (see attendance policy). The University of New Mexico ensures freedom of academic inquiry, free expression and open debate, and a respectful campus through adherence to the following policies:  D75: Classroom Conduct, Student Code of Conduct, University Policy 2240 – Respectful Campus, University Policy 2210 – Campus Violence.

Title IX Statement: Our classroom and university should always be spaces of mutual respect, kindness, and support, without fear of discrimination, harassment, or violence.  If you ever need assistance or have concerns about incidents that violate this principle, please access campus support resources.  These include confidential services at LoboRESPECT Advocacy Center, the Women’s Resource Center, and the LGBTQ Resource Center.  The University of New Mexico prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex (including gender, sex stereotyping, gender expression, and gender identity).  UNM faculty and graduate teaching assistants are considered “responsible employees.” “Responsible employees” must communicate reports of sexual harassment, sexual misconduct and sexual violence to Compliance, Ethics and Equal Opportunity.  For more information on the campus policy regarding sexual misconduct, reporting, and reporting for “responsible employees,” please see UAP 2720 and UAP 2740.

UNM Email Confidentiality Notice:  Students often use email to inquire about protected and sensitive matters, including grades and class progress, and faculty often use email to individually report such protected and sensitive matters.  Unless students opt out, in writing, to the Honors College, the Honors College and Honors Faculty will assume that all email sent individually to students via their official UNM email addresses (generally their @unm.edu address) is private and confidential and that the student assumes all risk of inappropriate interception of email transmissions.  If students opt out of this policy, they are agreeing to receive such information only in person (and they may be required to show identification before information is shared with them) or through regular mail to the student’s official address on file with UNM.

Covid-19 Health and Awareness: UNM is a mask friendly, but not a mask required, community.  If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, please do not come to class.  If you do need to stay home, please communicate with me at obenauf@unm.edu; I can work with you to provide alternatives for course participation and completion.  Let me, an advisor, or another UNM staff member know that you need support so that we can connect you to the right resources.  Please be aware that UNM will publish information on websites and email about any changes to our public health status and community response.  If you are having active respiratory symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat, etc.) AND need testing for COVID-19, OR if you recently tested positive and may need oral treatment, call Student Health and Counseling (SHAC) at (505) 277-3136.

READING LIST

I have prepared a coursepack of readings, available for a nominal fee at the UNM Copy Center in Dane Smith Hall (currently $22.00 as of Spring 2025). .  You will also need to purchase the books in the specific editions on file at the UNM Bookstore that I have ordered at the start of the semester, since the Bookstore returns unsold books to the publishers and you may not be able to obtain them if you buy them piecemeal:

  • Floyd Abrams, The Soul of the First Amendment (Yale)
  • Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima (Warner)
  • Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (Dover)
  • Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Dover)
  • The MLA Handbook, 9th Edition (2021)
  • George Orwell, A Collection of Essays (Harcourt Brace or Mariner)
  • John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (Penguin)
  • Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Dover)
  • Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (Dover)

As a class, we will trust each other to devise a mechanism for selecting the material for the final six weeks of the semester, which all students will be responsible for obtaining and reading.

I WISH TO MODEL DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES IN THIS CLASS, BUT AS I AM THE INSTRUCTOR OF RECORD, THIS CLASS IS NOT A DEMOCRACY AND I WILL HAVE FINAL SAY OVER THE CURRICULUM.

Other course materials may be distributed throughout the semester, either by email or on the class website.  Students are responsible for obtaining these texts and bringing them to class:  again, you should come to class prepared to discuss the readings in their entirety on the day they appear on the electronic timeline on the course website.

This syllabus is subject to change, as I may announce changes in readings and adjust deadlines, ahead of time, in class, by email, or on the course website.  We are sure to fall behind and likely to drop some of these readings.

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!